Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Summer Cookin'

The weather is starting to heat up around here, which means there's one place I don't want to heat up... my kitchen.

There are two things I've tried recently to help keep the heat out of the kitchen:

(1) Bake using the toaster oven!

I recently made Berry Baked Oatmeal in the toaster oven -- it was so nice to have a warm breakfast but not heat up our little apartment!

I watched it carefully, cooked the breakfast on the bottom rack and adjusted the temperature and cooking time a bit, but I did it with success! And, will certainly be trying it again since my little 9x9 pan fits perfectly in the toaster oven.

I'm interested in trying out more things in my toaster oven this summer:

roasting veggies/potatoes

making oven fries (a summer "staple" when we grill)

brownies!

muffins

quick breads

pasta bakes

bread sticks

pot pies

quiches

and cookies!

(2) Only boil foods for a few minutes.

I've tried making pasta with only 3 minutes of "heat" time. Dump your pasta in the water right away and cover the pan. Then, turn on the burner long enough to heat the water to a slow boil (with my gas stove, that takes about 2 minutes). Allow the pasta to slow boil for about another minute. Next, turn off the burner.

Your pasta will keep cooking in the warm water.

Cooking this way does take more time, but it really cuts down on the heat/steam in the kitchen.

I've also tried this with potatoes, boiling them just a little longer (~8 minutes) and allowing them to sit for 30-40 minutes.

Saving Energy in Addition to Heat --

Not only does it keep the heat out -- but, it cuts down on your energy use too!

You know your oven is the "hummer" of the kitchen, right?!

It's the most fuel inefficient portion of our kitchen, and the stove top isn't much better.

If you do need to use the oven, consider trying a similar approach -- place the food in the oven without preheating it. Then, bake (especially a pasta dish of sorts) for half or 3/4 of the cooking time. Turn off the oven and do not open the door. Allow the dish to continue cooking in the warm oven as it cools. This works wonderfully for most things, except breads/baked goods.

And, you know that water boils at 212 degrees, right?

Unless in a time crunch, there's no need to "rapidly boil" because the water temperature of boiling is still 212 degrees -- you're not making it any warmer by seeing more bubbles. Instead, we're just using more energy (and releasing more heat into our kitchens).

So... heat it to a slow boil and turn the gas/electric burner off. You'll save tons of energy in the process, and keep your kitchen cooler!

Handy pasta boiling tip!!I love my toaster oven too. We got it as a wedding present, and I am working on recipes for it.Brownies failed...I think the rack was too high (despite what the manual said)Potato wedges worked wonderfully.Baked chicken breasts worked great as well. It's an awesome little piece of kitchen equipment!

Ooh, the pasta one is new to me. I don't know why I didn't think of it. We, too, get very hot in the summer and I am always trying to not heat the house with the oven and stove and all that. I use my toaster oven religiously; but even that sometimes seems too much.

I love using the BBQ for everything. I'm going to try pizza's this summer (i just heard about that) on it and of course, hamburgers, hot dogs, and I'm going to experiment with all sorts of other things.

We hit 80 last weekend, so I started thinking about summer cooking. Of course, we are going to get snow again this Friday, so I have a little while before I actually have to transition to warm weather cooking. :)

I love the slow pasta boil tip. I definitely need to try that one. Another trick I pull to heat water more efficiently is putting as much as I can in a bowl in the microwave, then putting a small amount to start on the stove. After the microwave water is boiling, I pour it in the pot. This way, the microwave is speeding up the heating time with very little energy being used.

When cooking, please make sure to follow kitchen hygiene and safety -- cook meat until internal temperature is at safe levels, always check labels for allergens, and use caution in the kitchen -- I love sharing recipes, but I am not liable for damages done as a result of trying these recipes.